Enlightenment on the Web?

So after 10 years of healthy investment in the digital economy, the Web has delivered a plethora of business opportunities catering to 4 of the 5 levels of maslow's hierachy of needs.  For example:    

Biological Needs - www.freshdirect.com

Safety -  www.fidelity.com

Love, Connection -  www.eharmony.com

Status - www.asmallworld.net

But what business opportunities will come to help us towards to that ever elusive fifth level which is Self Actualization?  We certainly could spend a good deal of time arguing about what Self Actualization is but let's just define it as the following for now : " An understanding of one's sense of purpose which helps that individual maximize their unique abilities in the best possible way. "   More simply and in the context of our discussion, let's say a business that helps someone move forward in a mental health/spiritual way. 

I've recently read about a Web site being built by an American woman for the Vatican.  It will be a kind of "Myspace for Catholics".  While not a for profit business, I wonder how this will play out with regards to connections and time spent online in a more spiritual manner. Will it be a form of church or spiritual association in the virtual world?    

Aside from religion, the businesses around psychology seems to be about expert content and some level of self testing.  Have we explored the possibilities of leveraging the Web in a way that focuses more on the mental well being of an individual?  Are there possibilities to create businesses to track, share and comfort individuals?   Could we build an understanding of what makes people happy over a lifetime by leveraging the Web's data on large group of people?  Or is it so diverse and elusive a topic that it is not something that efficiencies can be brought to?  What if we could harness the opinions of people with some of the compenents of psychology, and offline data to create a new Web experience? Or is moving towards self actualization a realm that always remains offline?

Could you imagine a future where one has a Web site that gives them a better place to start to answer the questions that personally cause them anxiety , gives them an idea of how the world defines happiness relevant to the context they are in?  It might also provide them with a direction one might take that gets them to where they want to go mentally (which is also probably the place where the revenue model comes in).         

Encouraged to hear your thoughts on what an Actualization 2.0 business might look like, if at all.         

Comments

[Chetan Sharma]

Hey Tom,

Look forward to reading your thoughts and ideas.

Best wishes,
Chetan

[Perla]

Tom,
I can always count on you to ask the hard questions :)

One of the most self-actualized people I know of, Peter Gabriel, talks about how his life was changed when he got involved in charitable work. He was a superstar, and had been approached several times about working with nonprofits. And it wasn't until he went to Africa and saw the suffering first hand, that it changed who he was. It became real and physical.

I can't imagine any amount of information online or online social networking could have led to a similar self-enlightenment. The experiential web is something that we're starting to invent (and adult entertainment harnesses it very effectively) and it has a long way to go.

I wouldn't be surprised that religion and the sex industry will be at the forefront finding ways to satisfy people's need to feel emotionally or physically.

Perla